AU762803B2

AU762803B2 - A retaining wall block and a retaining wall

Info

Publication number: AU762803B2
Application number: AU27651/00A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Ullner
Original assignee: C AND M BRICK BENDIGO Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Adbri Masonry Group Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1999-04-30
Filing date: 2000-04-10
Publication date: 2003-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 2020-04-10
Also published as: AU2765100A

Description

I I -1- Regulation 3.

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

(ORIGINAL)

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.55.

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Invention Title: C M Brick (Bendigo) Pty Ltd ULLNER, John DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

"A retaining wall block and a retaining wall" Details of Associated Provisional Application No: PQ 0081/99 Dated: 30 April 1999 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: Q:\OPER\PHH\2282800. IOI.DOC 10/4/00 P:\OPER\PHH2282800SPEDOC 10/4/00 -2- A RETAINING WALL BLOCK AND A RETAINING WALL The present invention relates to retaining walls, and is particularly concerned with blocks used to construct such walls.

Retaining walls of the type with which the invention is concerned are used to retain earth banks.

Historically, such retaining walls have been formed of poured concrete, rocks, and timber, 10 including railway sleepers. More recently, cast concrete blocks have been used, the blocks being interlocked without the use of mortar.

•One such block is proposed in Australian Patent Application AU-A-69831/98 in which the block is described as having a flange positioned adjacent to the rear surface and extending downwardly from the lower surface. The flange engages the top of the rear face of two adjacent identical block when it is superposed on a lower course of the blocks to prevent the superposed blocks from being displaced forwardly relative to the lower course under the pressure of the earth bank.

S 20 The flange is described in AU-A-69831/98 as being removable and replaceable by pins engaged in respective apertures in the lower face of the block, aligned with the front face of the flange.

The pins perform in the same way as the flange in abutting the top rear face of two lower blocks, but additionally permit the block to be connected to a geogrid which extends into the earth bank to help retain the block in place.

The flange and the alternative pins in AU-A-69831/98 both cause the block to have an automatic rearwards offset relative to the lower course of blocks. Other retaining wall blocks have been proposed which are adapted to form a vertical retaining wall, and this may be readily achieved by providing corresponding top and bottom faces of the block. One proposal for this is described in AU-A-88861/91. As will be appreciated, this requires two different sets of blocks to be formed, depending upon whether the retaining wall is to have a rearwards inclination or 1, J, P:\OPER\PHHU282800.SPE.DOC 10/4/00 -3to be vertical, or for the vertically alignable blocks to be laid in inclined manner, as described in AU-A-88861/91, which may not always be acceptable.

This disadvantage can be alleviated by arranging the interlocking flange and a corresponding groove relative to the front and rear faces of the block such that the block can be aligned vertically with the lower course of blocks when it is disposed in one orientation and has an automatic setback relative to the lower course when it is disposed in the opposite orientation.

Such a block is disclosed in AU-A-17231/83. A problem with this type of block is that any texturing of the visible face of the block must be applied to both the front and rear faces of the 10 block, which is not always able to be done conveniently.

It is an object of the present invention to alleviate the aforementioned disadvantages.

According to the present invention, there is provided a retaining wall block comprising a front face spaced apart from a rear wall by generally opposed side walls and by top and bottom faces S"which are substantially parallel to each other, wherein a flange depends from the bottom face S0.. adjacent the rear wall and wherein a groove extends across the top face of the block, the groove defining a removable edge portion of the block between the groove and the edge joining the top face and rear wall which when removed will leave a rebate capable of accommodating the depending flange in a corresponding superposed block.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a retaining wall comprising at least two courses of retaining wall blocks as described in the immediately preceding paragraph. It will be understood that in a wall in accordance with the invention, each block may be superposed on two blocks in a course below as is usual in building walls from bricks or other blocks.

By the present invention, the same retaining wall block may be used to form a rearwardly inclined or a vertical wall. If a rearwardly inclined wall or wall portion is required, the depending flange of at least one superposed block abuts the top of the rear wall, that is the rear face of the removable edge portion, of a respective two or more blocks in the next lower course much as described in AU-A-69831/98. On the other hand, if a vertical wall or wall portion is P:\OPER\PHH\2282800.SPE.DOC 10/4/00 -4required the removable edge portion of the lower blocks is removed and the depending flange of at least one superposed block is at least substantially accommodated in the resulting rebates of a respective two or more blocks in the next lower course.

The removable edge portion may be removed by means of, for example, a hammer and cold chisel, the cold chisel engaging the rear wall of the block in alignment with the bottom of the groove. Preferably, the groove extends from one side wall to the other. Advantageously, the alignment with the bottom of the groove may be identified by a notch in the rear wall of the block. Conveniently, the notch extends across the full width of the block, from one side wall to 10 the other.

Preferably, the groove is substantially aligned with the front face of the depending flange of the eooe S. block so as to enable the front face of the depending flange of a superposed block in a vertical wall or wall portion to abut the opposed face of the rebate when the removable edge portion is removed.

The groove may have substantially the same depth as the height of the depending flange, so that the bottom of the depending flange of a superposed block may sit on the corresponding surface of the rebate when the removable edge portion of the lower block is removed for a vertical wall 20 or wall portion. However, this is not necessary and preferably the groove has at least a slightly oo.e.i greater depth than the height of the depending flange.

The blocks in accordance with the invention may be hollow, and in a preferred embodiment a lightweight cast concrete block has at least one passage extending therethrough from one side wall to the opposite side wall. Alternatively, an opening may be provided in the top face of the block, which optionally extends through to the bottom face. Such an opening may be used for planting, but requires a capping block if it is not desired to expose the opening.

The front face of the block may be textured, and advantageously this is achieved by casting two blocks together and splitting the cast blocks as described in our co-pending patent application 50316/98 to define the textured front faces of the two blocks. Preferably, the front face is P:\OPER\PHH\2282S00.SPE.DOC 10/4/00 bevelled around its edges. The side walls of the block may be parallel to each other and perpendicular to the front face to define a straight wall or wall portion, or to define a curved wall or wall portion in which the side walls of adjacent blocks are spaced from each other except at the front or rear face. Alternatively, the side walls may converge towards each other away from the front face for a convex wall or wall portion or diverge away from each other away from the front face to define a concave wall or wall portion.

One embodiment of a retaining wall block and retaining wall in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, 10 in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a block in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a similar view of a modified block; Figure 3 is a side view of two of the blocks of Figure 1 which have been cast together; o Figure 4 is a side view of a plurality of the blocks of Figure 1 superposed upon each other in an inclined wall; and Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the same blocks in a vertical wall.

Referring to Figure 1, the block 10 for a retaining wall has been cast in concrete and is hollow to provide relatively light weight with a passage 12 extending between the opposed parallel side walls 14 (only one visible). The block 16 in Figure 2 is identical to the block 10 except that the passage 12 is omitted.

The side walls 14 extend perpendicularly between a front face 18 and a parallel rear wall 20, and the side walls are also joined by parallel top and bottom faces 22 and 24 to define a block of generally cuboid shape.

P:\OPER\PHH\2282800.SPE.DOC 10/4/00 -6- A flange 26 depends from the lower face across the full width of the block adjacent the rear face The front wall 28 of the depending flange 26 is parallel to the rear wall 20 and the rear wall of the flange is co-extensive with the rear wall 20 of the block.

A narrow groove 30 extends across the full width of the top face 22 of the block parallel to and in alignment with the front wall 28 of the depending flange. The groove 30 defines a removable edge portion 32 between the groove and the top rear edge 34 of the block which, when removed, defines a rebate 36 (see Figure 5) adapted to accommodate the depending flange 26 of a 10 superposed block 10 or 16.

The groove 30 may have substantially the same depth as the depending flange 26 so that the o lower face 38 of the flange of a superposed block sits on the lower face of the rebate when the bottom face 24 of the superposed block is seated on the top face 22 of the lower block, but this S 15 seating of the flange in the rebate is not necessary and the groove 30 preferably has a slightly greater depth than the flange. For example, the flange may have a depth of 10 mm while the groove has a depth of at least 14 mm to define a rebate of corresponding depth.

The edge portion 32 may be readily removed by means of a hammer and cold chisel, the cold chisel engaging the rear face 20 of the block aligned with the bottom of the groove 30. This alignment is conveniently identified in the block 10 by a notch 40 which extends across the full width of the rear face The front face 18 is textured with the edges of the front face being bevelled, the upper bevel 42 being somewhat larger than the other three bevels 44. Both the textured front face and the bevels are provided for aesthetic purposes, conveniently by casting two blocks together with the front faces joined as shown in Figure 3, and then splitting the two blocks. Such a method is described in our co-pending patent application 50316/98. The bevels 42 and 44 around the front face 18 are defined by corresponding V-shaped grooves 46 and 48.

P:\OPER\PHH\2282800.SPE.DOC 10/4/00 -7- Alternative walls formed from superposed blocks 10 are illustrated end-on in Figures 4 and It will be appreciated that each superposed block will be engaged with two adjacent blocks in the next lower course although, for convenience, this is not illustrated.

In Figure 4, the wall is rearwardly inclined from bottom to top with an automatic set back caused by the depending flange of a superposed block 10 engaging the top of the rear face of the edge portion 32 of the adjacent lower blocks. Figure 5 illustrates the same blocks 10 in a vertical wall with the edge portion 32 of each block (except optionally the uppermost block) being removed to allow the depending flange 26 of a superposed block to be accommodated in 10 the resultant rebate 36 with the front wall 28 of the flange abutting the rearwardly-facing wall :50 ofthe rebate.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention described herein is susceptible to variations and modifications other than those specifically described. It is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations and modifications which fall within its spirit and scope.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not "the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The inclusion of a discussion of some prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that any of that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.

Claims

1. A retaining wall block comprising a front face spaced apart from a rear wall by generally opposed side walls and by top and bottom faces which are substantially parallel to each other, wherein a flange depends from the bottom face adjacent the rear wall and wherein a groove extends across the top face of the block, the groove defining a removable edge portion of the block between the groove and the edge joining the top face and rear wall which when removed will leave a rebate capable of accommodating the depending flange in a corresponding superposed block. S

2. A retaining wall block according to claim 1 wherein the groove extends from one side wall to the other. 00 0o

3. A retaining wall block according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the groove is substantially aligned with the front face of the depending flange.

4. A retaining wall block according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the groove has substantially the same depth as the height of the depending flange.

5. A retaining wall block according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the groove has a "•depth greater than the height of the depending flange.

6. A retaining wall block according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a notch is provided in the rear wall substantially in alignment with the bottom of the groove.

7. A retaining wall block according to claim 6 wherein the notch extends from one side wall to the other.

8. A retaining wall block according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the block is hollow. S PAOPER\PH2HU282800.SPE.DOC 10/4/00 -9-

9. A retaining wall block according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the front face is textured.

10. A retaining wall block according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the side walls extend parallel to each other and perpendicular to the front face.

11. A retaining wall block substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

12. A retaining wall comprising at least two courses of retaining wall blocks according to any one of the preceding claims. 00

13. A retaining wall according to claim 12 wherein the depending flange of at least one superposed block abuts the rear face of the removable edge portion of a respective two or more blocks in the next lower course whereby the superposed block is set back relative to said respective two or more blocks. 0*09

14. A retaining wall according to claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the depending flange of at least one superposed block is at least substantially accommodated in the rebates of a respective two or more blocks in the next lower course whereby the superposed block is at least substantially vertically aligned with said respective two or more blocks. DATED this 10 th day of April, 2000 C M BRICK (BENDIGO) PTY LTD By Its Patent Attorneys DAVIES COLLISON CAVE